Turkish FM, Blinken discuss Gaza cease-fire negotiations
Baku, August 21, AZERTAC
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Daily Sabah reported citing foreign ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli on Wednesday. The two top diplomats spoke about ongoing cease-fire negotiations in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and regional developments, according to Keçeli, who said the call had taken place at the request of the U.S. side.
Blinken returned to the region this week for his ninth visit since the new round of conflict started. On Tuesday, he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
Earlier Tuesday, Blinken arrived in Egypt from Tel Aviv, where he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a U.S. "bridging proposal" to narrow the gaps between the two sides after talks last week paused without a breakthrough. He urged Hamas to accept the proposal as the basis for more talks.
The Palestinian resistance group has not definitively rejected the proposal but has said it backtracks from areas previously agreed upon and has accused Israel and its U.S. ally of spinning out the negotiations process in bad faith. After meeting President El-Sisi, Blinken is expected to head to Doha, which, alongside Washington and Cairo, has been helping mediate the on-off Gaza talks for months.
Blinken has called the latest push for a deal "probably the best, possibly the last opportunity" and said his meeting with Netanyahu was constructive. He added that it was incumbent on Hamas to accept the bridging proposal.
U.S. officials have not explained the proposal or its differences from previous versions. "There are questions of implementation and making sure that it's clearly understood what each side will do to carry out its commitments," Blinken said Monday.
However, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan criticized the latest developments, saying the U.S. bridging proposal that Netanyahu accepted raised ambiguities because it differed from what the group had previously agreed.
Months of on-off talks have circled the same issues, with Israel saying the war can only end with the destruction of Hamas as a military and political force and Hamas saying it will only accept a permanent, not temporary, cease-fire.
There are disagreements over Israel's continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory and the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swap.
Türkiye has been fiercely critical of Israel’s brutal offensive in Gaza, which it and others say amounts to genocide. It has also slammed many Western allies for their support of Israel and repeatedly called for Muslim unity to facilitate a desperately needed cease-fire.
Ankara urges Israel to reciprocate the constructive approach of the Palestinians in cease-fire negotiations and the international community to pressure Netanyahu’s government.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of Hamas, which it describes as a resistance movement, unlike the Western countries, which mostly define it as a terrorist group, and hosted Haniyeh several times to discuss cease-fire efforts and the humanitarian aid crisis in the blockaded enclave.
It has formally applied to join South Africa's initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
A legal delegation submitted a 43-page declaration to the World Court earlier this month for Türkiye to intervene in the case.
The move is Ankara’s efforts to step up measures against Israel over the assault on Gaza. The declaration details Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip and cites Türkiye’s justifications for joining the case, which officials said complies with ICJ precedents and the court’s advisory ruling regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Tensions between Israel and Türkiye have also risen sharply since the start of the war in Gaza as Ankara has cut off commercial ties with Tel Aviv, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly trading barbs with Netanyahu.
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